By Timothy Churchill,Staff Writer

Police and sheriff’s departments in the Oxford Hills region will be using federal money to crack down on drunken driving this summer.

Paris, Oxford and Norway departments and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office were awarded a total of $7,636 to pay officers overtime to patrol for drivers operating under the influence. The Maine Department of Public Safety administers the grant money.

Paris is eligible for $1,736, Oxford for $1,200, Norway for $2,600 and the Sheriff’s Office for $2,100.

“It allows us to specifically concentrate on motor vehicle violations and arrest people who are driving under the influence,” Paris Police Chief David Verrier said Thursday. The Paris department sees a spike in OUI offenders during the summer months, he said. He added that in the last three summers Paris has arrested more than 35 people on charges of driving under the influence during overtime details paid for with grant money.

Since January of this year, Verrier said, Paris police officers have made 23 OUI arrests.

The grant is a great boon, he said, because “there’s a real problem with alcohol abuse in our community.”

The grant period began June 15 and will last until Sept. 31. A total of 54 police and sheriff’s departments statewide were awarded more than $100,000 in federal grant funds.

Norway Police Chief Robert Federico said the money his department was awarded will “keep OUI offenders off the streets.”

“It allows us two saturation patrols a week,” he said, “two extra units out there doing nothing but OUIs.”

Federico said the state Department of Public Safety likes to see three stops an hour for each grant-funded overtime shift. A typical shift, he said, is from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., the “busiest time for OUIs.” Federico said he hoped Norway police officers would make 12 arrests this summer with the grant money.

Federico said Norway’s department made 55 OUI arrests last year.